Don’t limp-along in a sour marriage to Kyle Walker for the money, Annie & ALWAYS have a escape fund, warns Lizzie Cundy
SHOCKWAVES were sent through the footballing world when England footballer Kyle Walker, 34, was caught cheating on the mother of his four kids.
But the lothario defender, who fathered two secret children with TV personality Lauryn Goodman, 33, has been given the ultimate last minute save.
As it is reported that his wife Annie Kilner has cancelled their divorce.
In October long-suffering Annie, 33, shared with her friends that she was filing for divorce.
But after spending a cosy festive period with the Man City star and their kids — and amid growing speculation he is being courted for a multi-million-pound move to play in Saudi Arabia — Annie she has reportedly put a halt on proceedings.
Although Kyle’s become a top target for the Saudi clubs, which will bring in a mega bucks, I urge Annie not to stay with the England star for the money.
As someone who has seen many footballer’s marriages end in divorce, or limp along miserably for years, you should never stay for money, it should always be for love.
Trying to make a family work because of the financial stability at stake won’t work.
But I think in Annie’s case she’s finished divorce talks for the sake of her family.
She was very hurt by what he did and wanted to take control of the matter, to scare him a bit, to say: “Look, you can’t treat me like this,’ and she was right to do that.
But, in the cold light of day, she misses him and wants to be with her family as a whole.
They’ve been together a long time and have four beautiful children.
Trust needs to be rebuilt but she doesn’t want to lose her family and I think that is so admirable.
It takes a braver woman to make the decision to stay together than to walk away.
People may say: ‘Oh, she’s only staying for the lifestyle,’ but I think it’s because she wants to keep the family together.
She’s not going to let a girl break up her home and it’s amazing to have the strength to do that.
My ex, Jason, and I married very much for love in 1994 and I was heart-broken when his affair was revealed a decade later, and started divorce proceedings.
I learned of the dalliance and ended it because I couldn’t live without the trust.
Sadly, when the trust is broken, it is very difficult to try and trust again. But there is a way and you can do it.
Now I think, a decade after the end of my union, when you’ve got young children, you’ve got to give it another go to try and save your marriage.
I could have definitely tried harder to try and keep the marriage together.
I look back and think: ‘Was that the right move to make?,’ and I don’t really know.
It could have been a very different story if I hadn’t listened to a lot of people telling me I deserved better.
I was a little too interested in taking heed of those pals, as it is important to remember you’re the one that has to deal with the realities of your life and look your kids in the eyes: other people don’t.
There are probably a lot of people telling her what she should do, but she shouldn’t be like me and instead only take the advice of very close family.
I could have stayed, possibly, but I’m still very grateful as I had a great marriage with someone for 19 years, we had two wonderful kids and I’ve been able to do loads of things in my career that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do if I’d stayed married.
But I do believe in marriage, I love marriage and I’d love to get wed again.
I really admire Annie for being able to say: ‘You know what, I’m going to give this marriage another go.’
Lizzie Cundy
My kids were 10 and 15 when we separated, it was tough, as they were old enough to hear the rows and see the ups and downs.
All kids want is a stable upbringing, Annie knows this and she can see Kyle realises he has made a huge mistake.
He will have to prove himself, he owes her a lot but I think he’s realised his mistakes.
When someone has got to the heights Kyle has in their career, the money is possibly something that’s scary for Annie to comprehend leaving behind- that element of security with a young family is important.
But you need more than financial stability, like the companionship of having your partner, as it is very difficult being a single mum.
He messed up and made the biggest mistake of his life, but let me tell you, he won’t be doing it again.
He really has learnt his lesson from what I hear, he’s so beside himself to get her back, he’s done everything in his power to get the marriage on track.
If he’s moving to Saudi she’ll want the family together.
I wouldn’t wish divorce on my worst enemy, it’s one of the most stressful, awful times of my life.
If I could turn the clock back and do things a different way, I certainly would.
Divorce is stressful, hurtful, painful and is worse when it’s played out on the front pages of the newspapers.
I remember schoolmums actually crossing the road in front of me because they didn’t know what to say.
I think I had a bit of a breakdown, I lost weight and look terribly thin when I look back.
As you don’t know who to turn to, and who to trust, it can be tempting to stay for the money and there’s no judgement in that.
All any mother wants for their kids is stability and security and Annie is a great mother.
She can get through this and they can work on it together.
Jason and I are friends now, we’ve come out the other side, which is great.
But a little something Annie might want to keep in mind is a getaway fund.
This is a a secret bank account a partner is unaware of.
Looking back this would have been a genius idea, as it is security.
If you’ve got children, you do need to have that getaway fund in case something happens.
People might think that’s really materialistic and the wrong thing to do, but it isn’t, it’s quite clever.
Annie’s fingers have been burned, so I think that she should try a getaway fund.
You never know what’s around the corner and it shouldn’t be looked down upon to have one.